Page 36 of Highland Spy

Ariana knelt in front of the door with a narrow tool in her hand, seemingly too small for her task.

Still, she held her breath to keep her fingers from trembling with nerves, and slipped the pick into the dark cavern of the lock.

The bit of metal moved blindly inside. She traced the outline of the invisible parts within, seeking out the little latch Delilah had described.

Sweat prickled at Ariana’s brow despite the cool room.

Where was the latch?

She moved the piece carefully once more, pressing harder this time.

Something gave, just the slightest bit.

But it was enough.

She tightened her fingertips on the pick, sacrificing dexterity for strength, and pushed.

A victorious click sounded from the large metal lock. Ariana tried the handle and the door swung open with ease. Delilah sat on a bench within the room, fingers buried in her thick light brown tresses.

She gave a mock pout. “I didn’t even get to finish plaiting my hair.” The pout gave way to a wide grin. “That was fast.”

A shadow fell over Ariana.

“Connor wants to see us in his solar.” Sylvi’s brisk tone sounded over Ariana’s head.

Ariana looked up in time to see the other woman stalking down the hall. Sylvi’s shoulders were squared out like a warrior’s, and the small braids framing her face had been twisted into a mass of blonde hair at the back of her head.

Delilah raked a hand through the beginnings of her own braid, which slipped free and left her hair falling around her shoulders like a silk curtain. “Connor probably has a mission for us.”

Ariana’s stomach did a little flip. Two months of training and now she might finally use what she had been learning. Her heart thudded a little faster.

Delilah got up from the bench and took the pick from Ariana. “Put that in your hair and we’ll put it up after we go see Connor.”

“In my hair?” Ariana asked.

Delilah took the pick from her hands, folded it in half, and handed it back.

It did resemble a hairpin. The side where Ariana had held her thumb earlier was etched with a series of whorls and flowers. She slid it into her hair with the patterned side out.

Delilah adjusted it slightly and smiled. “Perfect. Percy really is amazing with her creations.”

Before Ariana could ask more, Delilah caught her hand in hers and pulled her toward Connor’s solar. Not that Ariana needed pulling. It was all she could do to not run up there.

This…this was what she’d been waiting for.

And yet curiosity dragged her back.

“What happened with Sylvi at practice today?” she asked, giving voice to the question wearing a hole in her mind.

Delilah stopped, but did not drop Ariana’s hand. “Sylvi is very different from us. She…” Delilah pursed her lips. “She is here because she found out about the woman who used to do what we now all do together, before Connor came here and found us to aid him. Sylvi wanted to learn.”

“Why?” Ariana whispered to keep her voice from carrying through the pitted stone walls of the hall.

Delilah’s eyes went wide, making them appear all the more like a fawn’s—overlarge, deep brown, and fringed with thick black lashes. “It’s horrible, Ariana. Her entire family was killed. The men who killed them tried to kill her too, they slit her throat, but they must not have gone deep enough. She heard and saw everything.”

The horror of it flashed through Ariana’s mind, staining her thoughts with an image she didn’t want to see. An image she could not imagine ever witnessing. Even though she hadn’t had a strong connection to her family, the idea of seeing them murdered in front of her and being unable to help them—it was too much.

Her stomach twisted at the very idea.